the musings & adventures of two forty something ladies – join us on our journey into the wrinkly unknown

Charity begins at home … Would you shop at a Charity Shop?

Losing mum to cancer has had a strange effect on us all. While in the most part it’s been bloody shit it has also brought out a positive, determined side in us. A can we do more?… Can we help? …Can we raise awareness?

Having experienced first hand the scale of this awful disease, the helplessness that we felt , its compelled us to want to do something worth while; try to give back.

I’m considering taking up running [ yes you heard correctly – sofa monster might move yet!? ] so that I can participate in a sponsored run next year.

The BF and I are constantly thinking of hair brain schemes to help fund raise.

‘Wing walking‘ has been mentioned a few times but having Cataplexy I doubt it would even get past Health & Safety! Thanks to my ailment I have terrible balance generally … never mind while walking on a chuffing planes wing!

By a weird twist of fate an opportunity arose for my BF to help out at a local Cancer charity shop for the next couple of week-ends. It won’t bring mum back unfortunately BUT it will help raise money for research and maybe, just maybe it will go towards preventing somebody having to through what we have, as a family, in the future.

Every little helps …

It was his first day working there today , [no drunken Bank Holiday escapades for us] so I popped into see him earlier.

*Proud girlfriend moment*

He was working behind the scenes , sorting out the bags upon bags of donated goods, which consisted of clothing mainly.

He was over-whelmed by the generosity of people and the quality of the items that had been donated.

Before today he would never have dreamt of setting foot in a charity shop mainly due to the stigma that surrounded them. His general opinion was that it was second-hand, unwanted, flea ridden crap.

Oh how the worm has turned.

Not anymore!

He is now enthusing about them. He is shouting from the roof tops to anybody that will listen how good they are; the fabulous work they do.

First things first, amongst the good stuff is some rubbish . Items you wouldn’t dream of buying. This is because just like you’ll find with any shop … not everything is to your taste.

As they cater for all ages , shapes and sizes under the one roof there are bound to be items you consider unsuitable ; too old or too young-looking, too safe, too out there.

The good news is that on the whole things are slowly looking up. Gone are the days of fusty smelling shops with loads of rubbish being displayed.

Charity shops now-a-days are organised shizzle.

Like your everyday high street store they try to make it as easy for you to shop as possible . Everything is in sizes and categories. i.e all the dresses / shirts / jumpers are together in their specific sizes.

If you like to have a good rumble you can potentially discover some proper gems. I was always partial to rummaging through jumble sales as a younger girl so it’s perfect for me.

You never know what you might discover?

Clothes wise I always come home and wash whatever I have bought … they are usually clean, it’s just something I do. I’m funny like that.

So without further a do here’s what we stumbled upon and bought today.

All of the items listed below cost just under £50.00.

Brand new Nike trainers. Never worn

Golfing Top – New

Firetrap red water proof jacket. Ideal for walking Mollie

Super Dry Black Jacket

Another great jacket for early morning dog walks

Top Shop Grey Leather Ruck Sack

Ladies Fossil watch in original box

Another Fossil Ladies Watch in original box

Selection of Books

Selection of new socks

Converse Ladies Joggers

I think you’ll agree that the stuff we picked up today is far from somebodies old rubbish. I presume a lot are unwanted gifts. That it really is worth checking out your local charity shop.

I’m not saying you’ll always be as lucky as we where today but I’m sure you’ll be pleasantly surprised and even better … it’s shopping for a good cause. Surely that’s got to be the best type of shopping?!

I hope this post has in some way inspired you. If like my BF was you are horrified at the thought of entering a charity shop – I hope its given you that little kick you needed to not be so apprehensive!

If you needed any further proof of fabulous charity shop finds then you must check out@erikcajhillonInstagram . She is a charity shop ‘ superstar shopper’ and she finds some amazing pieces.

Lastly, and as mentioned earlier I am putting together a list of things we as a family [ with the help of my friends ] , can do to help raise money for cancer research, especially vaginal cancer that took mum.

We would love to be-able to contribute towards and help finance further research into a treatment / cure.

We would also love to raise a little more money for the Pallative Care Unit based on site at Sheffields Northern General Hospital. They were amazing and looked after mum during her last few weeks. Thanks to some very generous donations from friends and family at Mums funeral, we managed to raise a whooping £980.00 through the collection.

We are totally gob smacked and can’t thank everybody enough.

I’m not asking you for your cash today. Far from it. All I’m asking from you is your help by ways of original and fun fundraising ideas . It would be great if you could leave your suggestions in the comments below.

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9 thoughts on “Charity begins at home … Would you shop at a Charity Shop?”

You found some great items! Fab. We as a family do a lot for charity, (my mum volunteers in the local Hospice shop, a few treasures have been found) both Macmillan and our local hospice are our ones. My boys are actually in training at the moment for the Tough Mudder run they are doing in September (for Macmillan), 13 miles of obstacles! I will errrr, join them on the next run…..lol Some ideas that have worked well for us over the years are,

Curry Night at our local Indian
Black tie Ball
Sponsored Bounce (bouncy castles)
Charity Sports Day
Bake off
Charity afternoon tea
The men did a sponsored leg wax

These were all fab money raisers. If you need details, email me and I will go into detail for you. Hope it helps, Good luck xx

Kerry , thankyou so much these are fabulous ideas! Love the men leg waxing idea.
It’s great you do so much for charity … it’s such a nice way to give something back. We’ve all struggled since mum died but in a way it’s given us something to focus on.
Have a lovely Bank Holiday and thankyou for the fab ideas xxx

I have found that Charity shops have really upped their game recently.. It wasn’t until my Dad got Prostate cancer last year that I started shopping in them and I did the Walk for cancer this year.. It feels really good to be supporting good causes be it by buying from them or volunteering or raising money through sponsorship.. I’m hooked on the shopping now, it’s really great to see lots of lovely Instagram ladies realising that there are real bargains to be found, plus we’re helping toward s a conscious awareness of our throwaway culture.. Fabulous blog post Tracey and a big thumbs up to the Bf too! Good luck with your future ventures, I’m sure your Mum is so very proud! x

You found some great stuff! I love browsing in charity shops and regularly buy clothes and books from them for both myself and my daughter. In fact, she has a new charity shop outfit that she wants to show off on my blog 🙂 A colleague of mine did a sponsored silence for charity – that’d be a great one for kids!

Blimey that was a great haul! My Mum died of cancer in 2011 and I now volunteer at a cancer research shop in Sheffield . I ve always shopped at charity shops though have to say that since EBAY appeared I think people often sell their better things . I follow this blog which I found wonderful https://www.knickersmodelsown.com which came about through her wish to do something to raise funds after her mum died of cancer